ISS spacewalk aborted when water begins to fill astronaut’s suit

EVA called off to keep astronaut Luca Parmitano from inhaling water.

American Chris Cassidy and Italian Luca Parmitano were forced to call off this morning's planned spacewalk outside the International Space Station when Parmitano suddenly reported that there was water inside of his suit helmet.

"My head is really wet and I have a feeling it's increasing," he radioed about an hour into the spacewalk.

Video of the aborted EVA, starting with the discovery of the water. The call to terminate EVA comes at 12:45. Station airlock opens at 44:48.

The EVA, designated EVA-23, was one of the ones that Ars watched astronauts Cassidy and Parmitano train for late last year. That was during our visit to NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, the giant swimming pool where NASA simulates spacewalks in microgravity. According to NASASpaceFlight's recounting of events, Parmitano was in the process of running data cabling to connect the as-yet-unlaunched Russian Nauka module when the water began to make itself apparent. The quantity of liquid in Parmitano's helmet rapidly increased, with Parmitano noting that it had begun to enter his eyes, nose, and mouth.

The decision was quickly made by controllers to terminate the EVA, and Cassidy and Parmitano immediately began to make their way back to the station's Quest airlock. The liquid caused Parmitano's suit radio to malfunction and he could no longer speak to or hear anything from either Cassidy or from Mission Control, but Cassidy monitored Parmitano while the airlock repressurized.

"He can't hear," Cassidy said of Parmitano during the repressurization. "He looks miserable, but OK." Parmitano's helmet was removed as soon as possible after the airlock repressurization was completed, with NASASpaceFlight reporting some quantity of water "floating away" with the helmet.

At present, Parmitano's in-suit drinking water bag is suspected of being the source of the leak, though the specifics aren't yet known. Since ISS EVAs can last many hours, the spacesuits contain a quantity of drinking water to keep their occupants hydrated.

Enlarge/ Luca Parmitano at the NBL, holding his dive suit's drinking bag. This is identical to the drinking bag suspected of leaking.

Lee Hutchinson

This isn't the only source of water inside a suit, though. The PLSS backpacks the astronauts wear also contain a significant amount of water, which is circulated across the astronaut's body via a mesh of plastic tubes. The water helps to regulate the astronaut's body temperature.

Enlarge/ Another image of Luca Parmitano at the NBL, prepping his dive suit's drinking bag for a simulated EVA.

Lee Hutchinson

The microgravity experienced by astronauts in orbit makes even small drops of liquid potential hazards, and the small enclosed environment of a spacesuit is a particularly dangerous place to have free liquids floating around. Even the relatively tiny amount of liquid in a drinking bag would be more than enough to potentially drown a person if it were to be inhaled—in no small part because repressurizing the airlock and removing the astronaut's helmet to provide assistance takes more than ten minutes.

NASA will be investigating the cause of the leak over the next several days; another EVA will also have to be scheduled to finish the tasks that weren't completed during EVA-23. Fortunately, there are spare spacesuits on board the ISS, so Parmitano won't have to wear the same leaky suit again.

It's nice to see how fast but also how little obvious panic there is. I'm sure there's some sort of basic procedure they have drilled into them to end an EVA ASAP but it is nice to see such procedures work.

Congrats to all involved and here's hoping the issue is tracked down quickly.

To start seeing water in the least expected (and one of the most dangerous) place, thinking that you could drown in that suit and opening it won't bring fresh air, but will instead drain it to an infinite vacuum, keeping your cool while thinking of all the emergency procedures...Really, astronauts are some of the bravest people on Earth.

To start seeing water in the least expected (and one of the most dangerous) place, thinking that you could drown in that suit and opening it won't bring fresh air, but will instead drain it to an infinite vacuum, keeping your cool while thinking of all the emergency procedures...Really, astronauts are some of the bravest people on Earth.

Why didn't they just use a space drill to make a hole in the faceplate, let the water get sucked out, then plug the gap with a handkerchief to prevent further air loss? That would totally work and definitely not result in a horrific death..

Why didn't they just use a space drill to make a hole in the faceplate, let the water get sucked out, then plug the gap with a handkerchief to prevent further air loss? That would totally work and definitely not result in a horrific death..

Sir, the federal government has read your message and we like the way you think. We've got a job for you as a test subject, if you think you've got the right stuff!

Why didn't they just use a space drill to make a space hole in the space faceplate, let the space water get sucked out, then plug the space gap with a space handkerchief to prevent further space air loss? That would totally work and definitely not result in a horrific space death..

To start seeing water in the least expected (and one of the most dangerous) place, thinking that you could drown in that suit and opening it won't bring fresh air, but will instead drain it to an infinite vacuum, keeping your cool while thinking of all the emergency procedures...Really, astronauts are some of the bravest people on Earth.

Yet they don't do the most important part of their job... ON Earth. Sorry, I couldn't resist...

I wonder if NASA has a policy regarding hair length. It seems like all the male astronauts have short or closely cropped hair, while that female astronaut sports a big hulking ponytail. The video was quite distracting actually, 'cause all I can see is her moving her head and waving it all around. At the 32:09 mark, you can see it brushing against the other guy's face. So outside the ISS, you get water in your face. Inside the ISS, you get hair in your face. Space is certainly not face-friendly!

@tomr, I thought the zero-G ponytail was pretty cool. For many periods in the video, it was the only interesting thing to watch. At least as good as all those Lara Croft ponytail videos that were out a few months ago.

I know someone already said it, but drowning in space would have to be the least expected way to die up there. Imagine seeing the oceans hundreds of kilometres below, while your suit fills past your mouth and nose with water.

I know someone already said it, but drowning in space would have to be the least expected way to die up there. Imagine seeing the oceans hundreds of kilometres below, while your suit fills past your mouth and nose with water.

Suit wouldn't fill like that in microgravity. Water is floating around in there in small droplets. Even a small quantity inhaled would be enough to cause respiratory distress. Astronaut can't take the helmet off and blow his nose out.

I wonder if NASA has a policy regarding hair length. It seems like all the male astronauts have short or closely cropped hair, while that female astronaut sports a big hulking ponytail. The video was quite distracting actually, 'cause all I can see is her moving her head and waving it all around. At the 32:09 mark, you can see it brushing against the other guy's face. So outside the ISS, you get water in your face. Inside the ISS, you get hair in your face. Space is certainly not face-friendly!

It's nice to see how fast but also how little obvious panic there is. I'm sure there's some sort of basic procedure they have drilled into them to end an EVA ASAP but it is nice to see such procedures work.

Congrats to all involved and here's hoping the issue is tracked down quickly.

Yes, they have a procedure for a case like this, its called the HYBOE procedure. (Hold Your Breath Or Else)

It's nice to see how fast but also how little obvious panic there is. I'm sure there's some sort of basic procedure they have drilled into them to end an EVA ASAP but it is nice to see such procedures work.

Congrats to all involved and here's hoping the issue is tracked down quickly.

Yes, they have a procedure for a case like this, its called the HYBOE procedure. (Hold Your Breath Or Else)

Actually, in the event of total vacuum you should not hold your breath, but should instead allow the air in your lungs and respiratory system to escape through your mouth. If you don't, it'll try to escape anyway, rupturing your organs. You can maybe survive 30 seconds of hard vacuum if you get back into an air-containing environment, but if you lack functioning lungs this won't help much.

Lee Hutchinson / Lee is the Senior Reviews Editor at Ars and is responsible for the product news and reviews section. He also knows stuff about enterprise storage, security, and manned space flight. Lee is based in Houston, TX.